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Boxer shorts in the office? Marcel Aubut ‘thought it was normal’

Aubut’s friends and women who worked with the former Canadian Olympic Committee head accused of sexual harassment describe a man who “doesn’t know when he’s gone too far.”

Marcel Aubut, then president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, congratulates gymnast Ellie Black on her success at the Pan Am Games in Toronto in July. (Melissa Renwick / Toronto Star) | Order this photo

By Isabelle HacheyLa Presse

Sat., Oct. 10, 2015

MONTREAL—August 2015. Marcel Aubut’s Harley-Davidson is crossing the ravines, mountains and forests of Wyoming. The 67-year-old lawyer is on a 2,500-kilometre road trip through the American West with his old friends.

For 20 years, Aubut has organized “Kid’s Relay,” a motorcycle trip that has led his friends, over the years, to travel legendary Route 66, criss-cross the Mojave Desert and snake through the Italian Alps.

Sometimes a dozen people are on the trip. This year, there are four. After each day on the road, Marcel and his band regroup for dinner. In general, they talk about work and family. But tonight, the lawyer’s old friends decide to give him a warning.

Aubut reacted rather well to his companions’ diplomatic warning. “He agreed,” said Michel, a boxing promoter. “But for him, it was never malicious. He said, ‘You know me. I don’t do this to hurt anyone.’ He might not have felt the need to change his behaviour.”

Sitting at a table in a restaurant in Wyoming that night, Aubut was far from knowing that a few weeks later his “crass jokes” would be his undoing.

The fall was brutal. On Sept. 30, the Globe and Mail revealed that Aubut was the subject of a sexual harassment complaint at the Canadian Olympic Committee, of which he was president.

The crisis escalated rapidly. Two other women came forward. On Oct. 3, after La Presse revealed the COC had been aware of its president’s behaviour since 2011, Aubut resigned. “I will adjust,” he promised in a press release.

Aubut hasn’t been charged with anything and isn’t the subject of a criminal investigation. La Presse tried to reach him several times over the past few days, without success.

According to Réjean Tremblay, who has known Aubut for 40 years, his greatest mistake was not adjusting to the times and to a society that is less and less inclined to tolerate men like him. “I, myself, remarks I could have made five years ago that I found amusing, I don’t make them anymore,” Tremblay said. “Because things have changed.

“Many times I’ve heard Marcel give compliments that, today, would be considered awkward,” he added. “But I have never seen any inappropriate actions. For him, it was a game.”

For Catherine, it wasn’t a game at all.

The former executive assistant to Aubut at his law firm said she got a desperate call from him last week. “He wanted me to lie to the journalists,” she told La Presse. “He was harassing me about it. That’s when I felt nauseated. I told myself: I can’t believe I ever worked for this man.”

Catherine (not her real name) isn’t the only one to have been intimidated that way by Aubut. Other employees claimed to have heard from him over the last few days. They were warned that journalists might try to contact them. Aubut even fed them lines to improve his image in the media, they said.

A few years ago, Catherine had the same job as Eve (whose name has also been changed for this story), the woman who said she walked in on Aubut wearing boxers in his office. Eve agreed to leave the firm without causing a scandal, in exchange for $10,000.

Catherine, for her part, often saw Aubut in his boxers or half-naked in his office. “He was like that; he thought it was normal. I got used to it. One gets used to everything.”

She went to human resources several times to discuss her boss’s attitude. “They told me: ‘That’s our Marcel. He’s like that.’” There wasn’t anything to do. Since he was in a position of authority, we had to adjust to his completely inappropriate behaviour.”

“I was born to make a difference,” Aubut was quoted as saying in a long profile published in the spring of 2014 in the magazine L’Actualité. He’s anything but modest.

It’s true that the “Kid” has come a long way since his family crammed themselves into a small apartment in Limoilou, a borough of Quebec City. While his dad, Roland, worked construction, young Marcel sneaked into the Coliseum to watch hockey games without paying.

Today, the “self-made man” has millions to his name. He told L’Actualité he owned 30 cars, seven motorcycles and 11 properties around the world. He has cultivated an impressive network of contacts including politicians and businessmen. He rubs shoulders with the country’s elite, but hasn’t refined his manners. “He curses a lot,” said Catherine. She added: “I have never seen him respect a woman. Never.”

This is nothing new. Denis de Belleval was the director general of Quebec City when he met Aubut for the first time, in the summer of 1992. Aubut, who was then president of Quebec City’s NHL team, the Nordiques, thought he was entitled to a municipal tax break. “He walked into city hall as if he owned the place,” de Belleval said. “He told my secretary she had nice breasts, and then he walked into my office” to beg for millions.

“He’s always had that vulgar style,” observed de Belleval. “He’s the type to break down doors — that’s how he became successful. He has no doubts about his own abilities.

“He’s an intelligent man, but he doesn’t know when to stop. He doesn’t know when he’s gone too far.”

De Belleval calls it “common knowledge in Quebec that Marcel Aubut had this cavalier attitude toward women.” Among those who were even the least bit acquainted with him, no one was surprised when news of the controversy broke.

Despite the reputation he acquired over decades, people went out of their way to celebrate Aubut. He was named an officer of the Order of Canada, officer of the Order of Quebec and lawyer emeritus of the Quebec Bar Association, on top of being inducted to Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame.

For a long time, Aubut seemed untouchable. The man who brought in lucrative sponsorships and juicy contracts was the pride of his firm and of the COC. “His bosses, his partners … everybody in the world knew but didn’t do anything,” Catherine said. “The secretaries were left to fight for themselves. Those women had the courage to ask: ‘Is it normal for someone to grope and kiss me in a law office?’”

Catherine admitted she’s “scared” of the influence her former boss has to this day. But she’s made up her mind. She won’t cover for him. “I stand with all the women who have to put up with a man like that in their life,” she said. “We have been through so much.

“I heard lawyers laughing about it. It was deeply disturbing. It wasn’t funny.”

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